Truth and Reconciliation in Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo and his wife Simone sit on a bed at the Hotel du Golf in Abidjan after their arrest on April 11, 2011
(AFP/Getty Images)

Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo finally surrendered to a military assault by president-elect Alassane Ouattara yesterday. Ouattara won last November’s election with only 54 percent of the vote. While Human Rights Watch has accused Gbagbo and his militia of crimes against humanity, the organization has also accused pro-Ouattara forces of massacring over a hundred civilians in a pro-Gbagbo region. Ouattara has promised to put together a commission of truth and reconciliation to look at crimes from both sides. Can he unite this bitterly divided country? Rickard Dicker, Director of Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program talks about the legal issues faced by Ivory Coast.

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Frankly, the French were the only force which had the stomach and the muscle to do what needed to be done to ensure that democracy come about here.

The BBC's Mark Doyle has been reporting from Abidjan, where he says it's still too dangerous to venture out into the city as fighting hasn't completely ceased. He says that security and the rebuilding of the army is now required in order to bring peace to the country.